Like we do today, our ancestors sometimes used nicknames to stand out. And knowing about those nicknames can help you find ancestors “hiding” in records. While some might seem obvious, others male nicknames might take you by surprise. We’ve put together a list of alternatives for historically popular male names. You can also check out our list of female nicknames.

The same nickname might be associated with different given names. If all you have is a nickname and you’re looking for possible given names, use control-F (apple-F on a Mac) or go to Edit-Find to search this page for a nickname.

Given name

Possible Nickname(s)

Alexander

Al, Alastair, Alex, Alisdair, Alistair, Eleck, Sandy, Zan

Andrew

Andy, Drew

Benjamin

Ben, Bennie, Benjy, Jamie

Charles

Carl, Charlie, Charley, Chick, Chuck

Edward/Edmund

Ed, Eddie, Eddy, Ned, Ted, Teddy

Frederick/Alfred

Al, Fred, Freddie, Freddy, Fritz, Rick

James/Jameson

Jamie, Jem, Jim, Jimi, Jimmy, Mamey

Jonathan

Eon, Ian, Jack, Jock, John, Johannes, Johnny, Jon, Nathan

Lawrence/Laurence

Larry, Lon, Lonny, Lorne, Lorry

Matthew/Matthias

Matt, Matty, Thias, Thys

Michael

Micah, Mick, Mickey, Mickie, Micky, Mike

Patrick

Paddy, Pat, Pate

Richard

Dick, Dickie, Dickson, Rich, Rick, Ricky

Robert

Bob, Bobby, Dob, Dobbin, Rob, Robbie, Robin, Robby, Rupert

Thomas

Tam, Tom, Thom, Tomi, Tommie, Tommy

William

Bill, Billy, Will, Willy

Zachariah/Zachary

Zach, Zachy, Zack, Zak, Zeke

A version of this chart appears in the Family Tree Factbook, a quick-reference guide to genealogy’s most important facts. This comprehensive book contains key information about names, historical records, genealogy websites and more.